In an overgrown herb patch, a hitn of health, a family line and leaves of black history By Constance Garcia-Barrio “Your mint’s running amok,” my neighbor, an avid gardener, said one sunny afternoon. “Let it go much longer, you’ll need a machete to hack it down.” Despite the warning, I aimed to let the mint
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After a move to the suburbs, a reckoning By Jennifer Ghymn Before my daughter came along, my husband and I were city folk living in tiny, 500-square-feet apartments. We only had room for the basics, and if something was purchased, then something else had to go. Having less clutter allowed us to make the most
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Pondering Philadelphia’s resilience in the aftermath of Hurricanes Harvey and Irma By Sam Boden Every day, I walk the cement patchwork of the city’s streets and sidewalks, navigating the bumps and cracks of the well-worn roads that make up our neighborhoods. I have seen the ways water gathers in the streets after a heavy rain
MoreIllustration by Abayomi Louard-Moore The Work of Life by Angel Hogan At dinner recently, a friend opened her fortune cookie to find the following Muhammad Ali quote: “Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.” We sat silent, considering. How has service impacted our lives? During my childhood, my
MoreIllustration by Anne Lambelet Sharing Our Table by Brian Ricci I’m fascinated by flavor. I was raised in a small town in the New Jersey suburbs, and at a young age I could walk by myself to school or meet my friends in the town village to trade baseball cards and trap crayfish in the
MoreIllustration by Donte Neal History Lessons essay by Donte Neal I never saw myself in the history of the United States of America during my K–12 education. It made me feel invisible. We had Black History Month, but the learning points were either solicitously innocuous, patronizing or about slavery. The Pledge of Allegiance got harder
MoreIllustration by Anne Lambelet Soul Farming by Charis Lindrooth When Don arrived to work with us at Red Earth Farm, I was skeptical. Now bear in mind, we employ an eclectic mix of people, but Don won the prize for the cleanest-shaved and neatest dressed. His spotless button-up was tucked into crisp khakis. His boots
MoreIllustration by Corey Brickley Lost and Found by Christina P. Day The day we came across a fake breast in a pink box, we thought it was funny at first—until further digging revealed the owner had endured breast cancer. A refrigerator arrived with a rock-hard frozen turkey still intact in its yellow netting. The day
MorePeople Like Me by Miyah Davis If I hadn’t walked onto a tennis court five years ago when I was 10 years old, Lord only knows what I’d be doing. Who knows who I would be. I am 15 now. I have a lot of childhood friends who are doing great—and I have a lot
MoreIllustration by James Olstein Buy Nothing, Gain Everything by Susan Corcoran About two years ago, I realized that every time I walked into my apartment I felt anxious and unfulfilled. Things I didn’t use were everywhere. I was always questioning why I had so much when it caused me nothing but stress. I first tried
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